Georgia Tech in 10th Place at Visit Knoxville Collegiate – Men’s Golf — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Loudon, Tenn. – Sophomore Aidan Tran shot a team-best 1-under-par 69 Friday, and 11^th-ranked Georgia Tech is in a tie for 10^th place following the opening round of the Visit Knoxville Collegiate.

The junior from Fresno, Calif., was the only Yellow Jacket to break par Friday on a day when 26 of the 92 players in the field did so at the par-70 Tennessee National Golf Club. Tran is five strokes off the individual lead, while the Jackets (+5) are 17 strokes off the pace of LSU (-12).

Round 2 of the 54-hole event gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday, with Tran and the Yellow Jackets set to tee off at 8:40 a.m. from the first tee.

TECH LINEUP – Tran, who played 54 holes and one match at the NCAA Championship last spring as Tech’s alternate player, birdied three holes Friday, offset by a double-bogey, for his 69.

Meanwhile, reigning NCAA Champion Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) and freshman Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden) each shot 1-over-par 71 and are tied for 36^th place individually. Sophomore Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and redshirt junior Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) added 4-over-par 74s and are tied for 67^th place. Reuter played his first collegiate round in 18 months.

Defending NCAA Champion Hiroshi Tai began his junior year by posting a 1-over-par 71. (photo by Clyde Click)

TEAM LEADERBOARD – With four players posting subpar rounds, LSU took the opening-round lead at 12-under-par 268, one shot better than Ole Miss (11-under-par 269) and three ahead of South Carolina (9-under-par 271).

Charlotte and host Tennessee are tied for fourth place, nine shots off the lead at 3-under-par 277, followed by South Florida at even-par 280. The rest of the 16-team field is over par.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – USF’s Jake Peacock grabbed the individual lead Friday by posting a bogey-free 6-under-par 64, one stroke ahead of three golfers tied at 5-under-par 65 – Matthew Dodd-Berry of LSU, Michael La Sasso of Ole Miss and Jackson Herrington of Tennessee.

Five golfers, led by the Tigers’ Algot Kleen, are tied for fifth place at 4-under-par 66, with three tied at 3-under-par 67 and six more tied at 2-under-par 68.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The Visit Knoxville Collegiate is being held for the second time, and the Yellow Jackets are making their first appearance. Tennessee hosts the 16-team event, which is being contested over 54 holes beginning Friday and concluding Sunday at Tennessee National Golf Club, which plays to a par-70 and…